Posted: Tue, 7 Sep 2010 07:13 AM - 10,560 Readers

By: Lonnie Schiller

The parking lot at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort & Spa near Austin looks like it could be an SUV dealership. Rows and rows of Tahoes.

And why not?



Lost Pines is an ideal weekend get away from Houston. I’m sure they get their share of families from Dallas and other places, but Houston is a huge market. Just pack the kids in the car — no airline hassle or cost — and you’re a mere two hours from the front gates.

As you get close the scenery goes from Gulf Coast to Hill Country. The air smells like mesquite and is just a bit drier. When you pull off the road and through the entry gates you assume you’re there. But it’s a mile or so down a private winding road across horse trails and golf paths to the actual resort. Lost Pines owns all that land — over 700 acres.

Once inside the lobby as you jockey past the other families it all starts to come into focus — the whole “Hill Country-Austin music capital-cowboy” set piece that they’ve got going. Sure it’s a little Disney-esque, but it gives the place something to hang its hat on — so to speak.

And it’s all so wholesome. Four hundred plus rooms built in wings around butterfly gardens, and fire pits and even some roaming longhorns (safely behind a barbed wire fence). There are cowboys strumming the guitar and you can roast marshmallows around an open fire.

One truly authentic thing is the river which skirts the side of the property. This is not a muddy bayou. It’s the Colorado River that forms the Hill Country lakes, Buchannan, Travis, Lake Austin and runs through Austin to form Town Lake. It flows less than 100 yards from Lost Pines on its way to the Gulf. But no swimming — snakes.

But there are no snakes in the lazy river (manmade) that serpentines around the several pools and the beach, water slide and volleyball areas. Plop yourself down, order a lemonade (or better yet a margarita) and watch the kids go by …  and by … and by.

Eventually you’ll want to float around yourself. It’s just too easy. You can do your eco-tourism trek or your mini-Tour de France some other time.

Here's a tip though: Wanna get up a lot of speed on the pool slide and feel a slight adrenalin rush?

Leap on hard (when the person at the top of the slide who makes sure you’re more than 42 inches tall says go), arch your body so just your heels and shoulders are touching the slide, bank high on the turns — and you’ll hit the water hard enough to startle all the parents waiting for little Kevin. They may even spill their drink.

There is an 18-hole golf course, a 13-acre practice area, two putting greens, men’s and women’s locker rooms, and, as you would expect, a very extensive spa operation — Django. There’s an up market restaurant with a multi-page wine list, and the big Fire Wheel Café where the whole family can choose from the offerings in a giant buffet. There are plenty of bars and outdoor cooking setups and a whole self-contained environment.

You could drive into Austin, but it's 20 minutes away. And what are you going to do? Take the kids to 6th Street, not bloody likely. They’ll be going there soon enough anyway.

For now — just relax. The cowhands at Lost Pines have it all taken care of.

I’m sure the off season is nothing like the summer, when it’s booked up almost every weekend. Go after this Labor Day weekend and you might have the place to yourself. Of course the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort is a very similar experience, but you have to drive 30 minutes past San Antonio to get there.

By that time you could have been around the lazy river a time or three.

*  Story Contributed by: Lonnie Schiller